


Gumball

by Emma_with_her_head_in_the_clouds



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt Robin (DCU), Tim Drake is Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23116978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_with_her_head_in_the_clouds/pseuds/Emma_with_her_head_in_the_clouds
Summary: Dick asked Tim to distract Batman. And if Nightwing needed Robin to distract Batman, then Robin would distract Batman, whatever it took.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 103





	Gumball

**Author's Note:**

> So I didn't mean to write this, and I don't know if it works as a one-shot, but I had a dream with the one scene from this, and so ended up writing it down.  
> It was originally going to be Red-Robin Tim, but then I realised it worked better with a younger, more enthuasiastic and innocent Robin Tim, so I set it earlier in the timeline.

Tim wasn't sure how he found himself in this situation.

"Distract Batman," Dick had said. Like that was easy? But his pseudo-older-brother had asked, not properly explaining, but enthusiastically insisting it was crucial for important Nightwing-business, and Tim, the sucker he was, had said yes.

So Tim was engaged in the impossible task of distracting a man who had near-unbreakable focus when it came to his mission. Tim decided to try and use that fact to his advantage, hoping that if he found them enough criminals for Batman to take down, he wouldn't have a chance to interfere with whatever it was that Nightwing was doing that he didn't want his adoptive father knowing about.

It started well, with Tim managing to find a big drug deal going on near the docks, for Batman and Robin to take down. They dealt with that quicker than he expected.

"Damn it," Tim thought, "The one day I don't want us to be efficient, we're on point."

Tim "accidentally" let one dealer get away, so chasing him down earnt another 10 minutes of distraction. But once that was done, Batman was wanting to head over to Crime Alley (one of the areas Nightwing needed them to stay away from), so Tim needed to find something else.

Tim found a quite convenient kidnapping in the other direction, and so they went to deal with that (to the benefit of both Tim's mission, and the unfortunate nine-year-old who'd been snatched). Tim tried to play for time at the end, chatting with the grateful little boy, who'd been hoping Batman and Robin would save him, and was thrilled to find his heroes had come through for him.

"Robin, let's go," Batman shouted.

"But..." Tim replied, gesturing to his new little friend he was speaking with.

"Now, Robin." Tim said a quick goodbye to the kid, explaining they had to go because they had other people to save. The kid gave him a gumball he'd hung onto throughout his kidnapping, wanting Robin to have it. He pocketed it, smiling in thanks, before running off after Batman before his mentor got angry.

They were heading nearer and nearer to Crime Alley and all of Tim's best distracted techniques were failing. He tried to pretend to trip, but Batman did a quick assessment of his ankle, declared it fine, and they were off again.

He texted Dick, explaining he wouldn't be able to keep Batman away much longer.

' _Just another 15 minutes, Timmy'_ the man replied.

Tim fingered the gumball in his pocket. He had an idea. Not a good idea. It probably wouldn't buy long anyway, but maybe it would be enough. Tim went with it.

Tim stuffed the gumball in his mouth and swallowed. His thinking was that if he pretended to choke, Batman would have to stop, at least for a few minutes. The gumball flew into his throat and stuck fast. He opened his mouth to call to Batman, who was already at the other side of the roof, ready to grapple to the next. But no sound came out. He tried to cough, but could barely do that. So much for pretending to choke. He was choking. The gumball was cutting off his entire airway.

He started to panic, seeing Batman's back disappear as he grappled to the next roof. He activated his comms to try and call for help, but couldn't make a sound, barely even a wheeze. He was trying to cough, trying to breathe, but it wasn't working. He was so distracted by his attempts to dislodge the obstruction in his airway, he didn't notice Batman reappearing by his side.

"Robin, report." He couldn't. But the panicked look on his face, and failing coughs, explained the situation well enough. Batman was soon thumping him on the back, the power reverberating throughout his body. Despite that, his airway remained blocked. His mentor swiftly moved on to the Heimlich manoeuvre.

Dark spots were now growing in Tim's vision. His hearing was disappearing into a buzz, and his attempts to cough were getting weaker and weaker as his asphyxiated body started to shut down. Through the haze, he berated himself that this had been a terrible idea.

\---

"Tim."

...

"Tim!"

...

Tim slowly started to recognise the sound of his name coming from somewhere, as his brain floated up into awareness. He didn't know where he was, or what happened. Slowly, he started to pick things up. A soreness in his throat. The rhythmic beating of a heart monitor. The blast of air coming from the oxygen mask over his face. A hand squeezing his hand.

"Tim, are you with us?"

Tim cracked his eyes open, to find the blurry face of Dick Grayson hovering in front of him.

"There you are! You had us worried for a minute there, Timmy."

"Wha..." Tim tried to speak. His throat burned. He started raising his hand (the one that didn't have another holding it) to touch it, but a gentle touch held him back.

"No, don't touch," Bruce's voice instructed, more brusque than Dick, but far softer than his usual Batman voice. "I had to do an emergency cricothyroidostomy before we could get the blockage out. It needs to heal."

"A gumball, really Master Tim?" Alfred's voice floated over to him. He could hear the old man adjusting some of the equipment nearby. "Don't I keep telling you all that ' _candy_ ' is bad for you?"

"Where did you even get it?" Bruce asked.

"The little boy we saved from those kidnappers gave me it." He could hear the man sigh in response.

"Timmy, did no one ever give you the talk about not taking candy from strangers?" Dick asked, fondly.

"It wasn't his fault I choked on it."

"No," Bruce replied. Whether or not the man knew Tim had choked deliberately or not, Tim didn't know. A silence hung in the air for a few seconds. "Get some sleep, Tim," the man eventually sighed.

Bruce watched Tim fall back to sleep, before sending Dick and Alfred off to bed themselves. He stayed sat at Tim's bedside in the medbay, and put his head in his hands. He was going to have to have a talk with both his proteges. Dick, for thinking he could keep secrets from him, and for dragging Tim into his subterfuge. And Tim, for being so dedicated to his task, he almost died. He really needed to get the boy to understand just how precious his life was. No mission was worth it.


End file.
